The White House has sharply criticised the Norwegian Nobel Committee after it awarded the 2025 Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, overlooking US President Donald Trump.
Machado was announced as the laureate on Friday for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
The decision followed months of public campaigns and nominations urging the committee to recognise President Trump’s peace efforts, particularly his role in brokering ceasefires in multiple conflict zones — achievements many of his supporters claimed merited the award.
Trump reiterated his stance on the eve of the announcement, claiming that this week’s Gaza ceasefire was the “eighth war” he had ended since returning to office.
“Whatever they do is fine. I know this: I didn’t do it for that, I did it because I’ve saved a lot of lives,” Trump said on Thursday.
However, Jørgen Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, defended the selection process, stating that “we base our decision only on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.”
Steven Cheung, the White House director of communications, expressed disappointment over the outcome.
“President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives,” Cheung said in a post on X. “He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will. The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”
The Nobel Prize remains one of the world’s most prestigious honours, celebrating individuals and organisations whose work has made a profound impact on humanity.
It is awarded in six categories — Physics, Chemistry, Medicine or Physiology, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences — with laureates announced annually in October by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden.
Since its establishment in 1901, more than 1,000 recipients, including Malala Yousafzai and Albert Einstein, have been honoured for their remarkable contributions to global progress and peace.
